Credit: DisneyKeri Russell, a former Disney Mouseketeer, is speaking up about her experience as one of the company’s iconic child entertainers, and it does not seem like it was a positive experience. In fact, it sounds as though Russell feels lucky to have gotten “out alive’ at all.
Keri Russell was a member of Disney’s reboot series The All-New Mickey Mouse Club for three seasons, from 1994-1996. The show was the second revival of the popular original series, which ran on ABC in the 1950s.
The series was an attempt to reboot the concept of the Mickey Mouse Club for a new generation and notably gave its child stars Disney-themed varsity jackets instead of the iconic Mouse Ears hats. It ran on the Disney Channel for seven seasons and is legendary for featuring future stars like Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Ryan Gosling, and N’Sync members JC Chasez and Justin Timberlake.
While The All-New Mickey Mouse Club is mostly remembered for the amount of talent it fostered (and, to a lesser extent, its family-friendly skits and songs), it does not seem like it endeared Keri Russell to the Walt Disney Company.
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Keri Russell: Disney Mousketeer
In a recent interview with W Magazine, Keri Russell opened up about her youthful experiences with Disney. It seems as though the Felicity star has kept some fond memories, saying, “Some of those people are still my best friends—Ilana [Miller] and Lindsey [Alley]. I was there at a time when there were a lot of famous kids there.”
The Americans star is also notably self-deprecating about her time as a Mouseketeer, going on to say, “And I say this completely truthfully: I was literally the least talented one there. I’m not kidding. When I look at those kids, I’m like, why in the world did they pick me? Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake and Ryan Gosling and Britney Spears. It was wild.”
However, things do take a darker turn when she says what she manages to save from the show was, “My sanity, my dignity. Not everyone got out alive.”
Disney Child Stars
It is not clear exactly what Keri Russell means about her time with Disney. At least one member of The All-New Mickey Mouse Club has passed away; Tiffini Hale died of cardiac issues at age 46 in 2021.
However, given the very public issues faced by her former co-stars like Britney Spears, it is also likely that Keri Russell is making a very terse, measured statement about the pressure Disney child stars are under.
While there are multiple individuals who have gone on to successful careers, like Zendaya, Selena Gomez, and Russell herself, there are many others who have had a rockier path.
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Keri Russell and Disney Now
However, her youthful experiences as a Mouseketeer do not seem to have completely deterred her from working with Disney. As recently as 2019, Russell starred in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker as spice-smuggler Zorii Bliss; Lucasfilm is owned by Disney, so maybe the slight layer of separation helped her. Or maybe she just remembers the good times with the other Mousketeers.
Do you remember Keri Russell as a Disney child star? Let us know in the comments below!